Three Page-Turning Legal Thrillers

 
 

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By Carol Pouliot

I normally don’t read legal thrillers, but I’m so glad I picked up these three novels. If you’re looking for page-turning suspense in a book you can’t put down, look no further. I highly recommend the following:

1. A Killer’s Alibi, by William L. Myers, Jr., had me turning the pages well into the night. Superbly written, this gripping thriller is loaded with suspense and surprising twists and turns. 

Mob boss Jimmy Nunzio is arrested for the brutal murder of a rival’s son—and his daughter’s lover—after being found at the scene holding a knife dripping in blood. Defense lawyer Mick McFarland takes the case and is immediately reduced to dancing to the tune of the mobster, who refuses to tell him anything that happened that night. Nunzio says the lawyer will know what he needs to know when the time is right. Meanwhile, Mick’s wife, Piper, works to free a young woman imprisoned—she believes wrongfully—for the murder of her abusive father.

The theme of fathers and daughters pervades this thriller, weaving through all the plot lines. A fantastic read!

2. The Hallows, by Victor Methos, is a gripping legal thriller about a man out to get justice for the victim of a terrible crime and to set things right in his own life.

After celebrating a win in the courtroom, attorney Tatum Graham suddenly chucks it all in—the palatial Miami home and his job as the nation’s top defense lawyer. Without a real plan, he jumps into his Tesla and hits the road, in search of a simpler, more meaningful life. Graham ends up in his hometown in Utah and runs into his childhood sweetheart, Gates, now the county District Attorney.  

Short-staffed and overworked, the DA’s office is set to prosecute a teenaged boy for the brutal murder of a local girl. Gates asks Tatum for help. Seeing a chance to do some good, he signs on as prosecutor but soon finds that justice looks different in this small, western town. The coroner only has a bachelor’s degree in biology, has no idea what he’s doing, and gives up. Worse, the sheriff is lying and intentionally throws obstacles in Tatum’s way.

As if that weren’t enough, Tatum struggles to mend the broken relationship with his widowed father, recently diagnosed with cancer, and with Gates, whom he ran out on twenty years ago.

Be sure you don’t have to get up early the next morning when you pick up this one.

3. The Ex, by Alafair Burke, is an exciting thriller with a complex cast of characters.

Jack Harris is dipping his toe in the dating pool after fifteen years of avoiding entanglements, ever since the murder of his wife. During an early morning run along the river, Harris sees a woman in a party dress, enjoying a picnic, drinking champagne, and reading his favorite novel. With help from a friend he tracks her down and makes a date to meet her. As Harris approaches the spot, an unidentified shooter goes on a killing spree, murdering three bystanders. 

Harris is soon framed for the murders. His teenaged daughter pleads with his ex-fiancée, defense attorney Olivia Randall, to represent her father.

No one is who they seem to be and everyone is lying in this fantastic thriller. As the twists and turns pull the reader down one wrong path after another, Burke keeps us guessing until the very last page. I loved it!!

If you’re looking for books that will keep you on the edge of your seat, check out these three titles. You’ll be glad you did.

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

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S&S Book Club: Alafair Burke’s If You Were Here

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